I am, by no means, the inventor of the 5 Fingers Chore Chart.
My mom wasn't even the inventor, but she sure was the perpetuator of it. The source was this book (and may I highly recommend it as a great tool for helping you teach your children to work?).
It's simple, really.
Which is why it is so perfect for young children and for busy moms who need simple ways to streamline their day.
I am a terrible artist, but my 3- and 5-year-olds get the gist. When I ask them in the morning if they have done their 5 Fingers, they know I mean this. It's taped to their closet door at their eye level.
And they know they don't get breakfast until they've done them all.
(The older children also have to do their 5 Fingers, but they are-- for the most part-- memorized and habit at this point.)
You can pick any 5 things that are important to you. I've stuck with the ones my mom taught me when I was just a little girl myself:
- wash hands & face
- brush teeth & hair
- get dressed (down to slippers/shoes)
- make your bed
- pick up your bedroom (clothes & toys)
Some of my friends also have their evening 5 fingers. Really, this chore chart can be used for any "transitional" times of day.
It's important for children to learn to work, and I know that even as an adult I have often benefited from having 5 Fingers ingrained in me! Certainly, I have my seasons of not getting around to showering/dressing or making my bed until hours after I've first woken, but I am thankful that these are things I only need get back to, rather than learning as an adult. (Thanks, Mom!)
I "stole" this idea from you a few years ago when I just had one using it and one too small for it still. It worked great! I can't drawl either so we cut out pictures from a magazine and glued it to our fingers. We had one hand be our morning 5 and the other hand was our night five. Our then almost 3 year old loved giving us a "high five" when she was done with her "five fingers" That was a fun twist we put on it!
ReplyDeleteWe just moved 8 weeks ago and moved about a year before that. Our "five fingers" never got taped back up from our year ago move. Which we never really did get settled. Thanks for the reminder of how simple this is and how well it works. Now if I can just find those fingers to tape up....although it may be time for new fingers since I now have a 3 & 5 yer old that can use them!